Hey, friends! I often hear people questioning about my way of life. They often question my choices and when I give them answers, they seem to get confused and doesn’t understand. Likewise, my parents have started questioning a lot of my choices and decisions lately. One such question is on my choice of public transport instead of my car. They say – “Hey, why did you even bought a car at the first place if you have to travel by bus?”. And my answer – “Because it is more feasible, mum.”?”What about the comfort and luxury? You have to walk and wait for so long, do you still think it is feasible?” – Mom’s reply. My answer – “I do think it is feasible for my current lifestyle”. And as usual, this conversation just make them upset about my choices in life 
In this article, I’m going to list down all the things that make it feasible for me. I might also convince you to prefer public transportation instead of your car or bike. Let me first try to convince you why people prefer their own means of transport over public transportation. If only you agree with me on these points, move forward to the next section where I will try to convince you to use public transportation. Also, I will give you multiple reasons why I prefer public transportation over private.
Table of Contents
Why people prefer private transportation over the public transportation?
Transportation as Status Symbol
The choice of transportation comes under lifestyle decision. If you step down from your own car then automatically it puts a positive impact on the people around you. They tend to prefer you a little more as compared to others without a car. One may argue that it is not the case, but if you will observe closely you will see. This is not limited to just car, the size of your car also matters a lot. After all, means of transport has been a status symbol for quite so long now. It is there from the time of Maharajas. This is one of the major reason why people prefer their own means of transport. Just like people buy Apple’s iPhone, even though there are better smartphones available in less price. It’s about maintaining your status in public. Hah?
It is a Time Saver
Absolutely, no doubt about this one. It is a time saver. I have to travel 11 KM every day to reach office. If I had to take public transport then it takes me 50 minutes minimum to reach my destination (given traffic conditions). In the worst of the condition, it could take up to 1 hour. And If I take my own car, it takes me approx 40 minutes to reach my destination. Let’s do the match, 50 – 40 = 10. Wow! I saved 10 minutes of my commuting time, sometimes 20 minutes, Great!
More Comfort
I’m more comfortable when I use my car. I have an Air conditioned card, so If I travel in my car, I travel in AC. I’m not worried about the dust outside. Neither am I worried about the hot summer wind or sun tanning. I’m so much more comfortable if I choose to go in my car. On top of that, I have my own space where there is no one to interfere. I can also put on my favourite song all the way to my destination. It becomes a fun drive.
Feels Like a Boss
With your own wheels, you are the boss. You can stop anywhere, drive anywhere, do anything you want as long as it is permitted. You have more freedom in your own car. You can go along with a small group of friends and create nuisance in whatever ways you want. This is not acceptable in the public transport. After all, you have paid for this freedom.
I cannot think of anything apart from the points above. If you have any other thing, please share it below in the comments section. So, now I have listed down all the reasons why people prefer private transport over public transport. But there is a catch if you look more closely. I have observed many different people when travelling by bus and I have noticed a common pattern among many rich people as compared to not so rich people. Let me now try to convince you to use public transport and why it is the most feasible for someone of my age.
Why Public Transport is More Feasible than Private Transport
I talked about a few points in the previous section. In this section, I will try to add a few more points from this side of the conversation.
It is more Time Efficient
As I mentioned earlier that you save 10 minutes which commuting in your own wheels which is a pretty decent time. But, let’s try to see it from a different perspective. How much time have you wasted? It takes me 40-50 minutes to reach my destination. If I drive a car it takes me 40 minutes. In this 40 minutes, I have done nothing fruitful. I have just driven my car. I have faced the traffic, signals, speed breakers and a whole load of other things. All and all, it made me more tired as compared to someone taking a public transport. Because he does not have to do anything. He just has to sit there and wait for his/her destination to arrive.
If I have to travel by my own car, I will have to spend complete 40-50 minutes of driving and nothing else. On the other hand, if I’m using a bus, I could do a lot of other things to better consume my time. I personally use to read ebooks on my smartphone. I have a kindle app installed and I purchase e-books from the store and whenever I get time I start reading it. So, instead of driving my car to utilise that time in increasing my knowledge, reading skills, focus. Believe it or not, I have completed 2 books by utilising my commute time.
To summarise it all, where you are saving 10 minutes, I’m utilising 40 minutes into reading and increasing my overall knowledge. To put it in other words, if I choose a car, I waste 40 minutes but when I use the bus, I waste only 10 minutes. That is a difference of 30 minutes. It’s a lot.
A good way to Socialise
Travelling by bus is a really good way to socialise with others without having to know them personally. In the beginning, when I joined an MNC as a software developer. I had a hard time figuring out what is happening to my life. It was fun in the first month because that was the time I was meeting new people. Everyone I met was a new experience that I have not experienced before. But after a month, it was so monotonous. My whole life became so predictable, I started moving with the clock. That time was the hardest for me. I was not getting time for myself, even blogging became hard for me. I did not even have time for myself. At that moment I realised the true meaning of the word adaptable. When I started travelling by bus I use to get those extra 30 minutes that I used to read the ebook and socialise with different people. I met some of the most wonderful people on the bus sitting next to me.
Whenever you meet someone new, it is a totally new experience. Both of us share our thoughts and knowledge with each other and that is the time when you realise that being social is a big part of a human life. At least for me at this point in my life where an opportunity could strike from anywhere. What if a stranger gave me the key to all my questions and puzzles that I have been searching for everywhere. So, travelling by bus not only make me more efficient, it even helps me to become more socialise by meeting new people and creating new experiences.
No Headaches
Those 40 minutes are one of the most relaxed moments of the day which I get to spend with myself. I can choose to use that time in whatever way I can. I can choose to take a nap, read a book, talk to people, listen to music or simply observe people around me (it’s a lot more fun). I do not have to worry about the weather, traffic, speed breakers or any such things which I had to while I was driving. I also get to learn about the people around me.
The patterns that I learned during this time is how different people behave in a similar situation. Some people choose to simply sit quiet, while others listen to music or talk to each other. Some cover their faces all the time (mostly girls
Time for new Ideas
This is the best time when new ideas pop into my mind. I mostly spend my time reading on the bus, so this is the time when new ideas come to my mind. It is the best time to validate those ideas in that very moment because you are covered with so many people of different occupation and different backgrounds. You can observe their behavioural patterns to match the newly born ideas. The blog that I wrote a few days ago that you should teach students how to earn money instead of mental mathematics came from an incident.
There was a school boy sitting in front of me and talking about their exams that day. They were not at all looking happy, rather they were tensed and worried? (what I understood from their conversation). That is when that idea popped up, that I should write an article on this subject because this was the same exact thing that I felt back in my school days. I wanted to play cricket instead I was forced to come to school and study. Principle even called my parents multiple times to complain about my behaviour that I use to bunk school to play cricket. Although my parents were proud of me for doing this, most of the parents aren’t. If schools would push children in the direction of their interest the whole story would take a different turn. I’m deviating from the subject here.
Affordable
Public transport is way more affordable than any other means of transport. Where it would take me 70 bucks every day to travel by car, it only costs me 30 bucks. That is more than the 50% saving in terms of money. If I travel 30 days via car, it would cost me 7030 = 2100 INR ($32 approx.) and by bus, it comes down to 3030 = 900. 1200 INR ($18 approx.) savings every month which could be used in a whole lot of different places which can yield better results. It is way more affordable than your own means of transport. To know what all can you do by saving $18 every month then read my other article on How can you make a fortune just by saving $18 every month.
This is just a straight calculation. There are other hidden costs involved. The cost of maintenance that comes with your vehicle. The cost that involves your car insurance, green certificate, monthly checkups, car battery. I think you got it. There is a lot of other hidden costs that comes with your own wheels. If we are going to measure it on the scale of affordability then public transport will beat private transportation by miles.
Eco-Friendly & Space efficient
Public transport is more eco-friendly and space efficient. By space efficient I mean that it will take very less space to transport the same number of people as compared with the private transportation. The below image will show you the clear distinction.
Public transport system is more eco-friendly. It takes almost the same amount of carbon emission to transport 100 people whereas if each individual will take his/her personal wheels then each individual will release the same amount of carbon compared to the 100 people at once. It’s a huge difference and you cannot neglect that. Vehicles contribute around 75% of the total carbon emission into the atmosphere every year and this number is increasing every day (reference auto.howstuffworks.com). As a result, the earth will become warmer day by day and a time will come where everyone will be living inside a hole because the surface temperature would be inadequate to survive. We don’t want that, Right? If we already know about these things then why do we keep exploiting it regularly, WHY?
Why do we exploit our nation?
The answer is simple, overpopulation and a need for isolation. Everyone needs their own space. As the population grows, the personal space starts to shrink up. That is the reason why people living in developed countries finds themselves superior as compared to other developing nations. This is just because they have their personal space intact. Nobody wants to travel in a crowded bus. If each and every individual will get a place to sit on the bus, I’m pretty sure that people will prefer public transportation over private means. I really think if India can control its population in the coming decade or so, it holds the power to become one of the most powerful nations in the world in terms of livelihood.
On the Contrary, If you are from a high-pollution city then I recommend you wear a pollution mask to prevent?Pollution particles like PM2,5, PM10, road dust, allergens, H1N1 Virus etc. It is high cause for most of the diseases in Delhi. I highly recommend you to wear a pollution mask.?
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Conclusion
Just by making a simple change in our lifestyle, we can benefit so much. I know a very few people would actually make a decision to change the way they travel and most of the people will share this post on their FB wall and nothing more. I hope more and more people will adopt public transportation because that is one of the most efficient ways to eliminate pollution that could be done at the individual level. Once everyone is using a standard way for transportation then the government can slowly replace these mediums by something more efficient and reliable. If Narendra Modi Ji is reading this article then I would suggest replacing all the diesel buses with electric ones. You gotta GO CLEAN GO GREEN.
And as always,
Be my aficionado 🙂